If you're my Facebook friend, then you've probably been following the progress of my EPIC home renovation. I'll have plenty of before and after pics of the house when it's finished (maybe 3 more weeks?)
I figure I'll start posting the progress on my bloggy, so if you haven't been privy to the pics, prepare yourself... it's a doozy.
I basically took my childhood home, emptied it, stripped it down to the studs and slab, and am currently in the process of putting it all back together with the help of my uber-awesome, and extremely patient general contractor, Wright Smith (who I've learned goes by 'Moose'... but also has some self-professed Shrek-like similarities, hahahhaaaa.)
I think we started demo sometime around the end of July, and now here we are 9 weeks later, and it's all coming together. What started as three 'non-negotiables': painting the walls, removing the popcorn ceilings, and replacing the flooring, has turned into an avalanche of reno work.
It sorta goes like this: I have a friend... a very hairy male. One day he decided he was going to shave his... um, man parts. So he did. However, when he appraised himself in the mirror, he realized that he looked like an idiot because that was the only bald area on his entire body. So he shaved his stomach... which then led to his chest... shoulders and arms. Of course, then he looked like he was wearing black furry long johns, so off came the leg hair. Three hours later, he was totally bald. Head to toe. A naked mole rat.
Well, this is a metaphor for my house renovation. What started as three non-negotiables, has turned into a sequel to "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." Indeed, if you decide to do new flooring, you may as well get new cabinets (because the flooring you like doesn't go with the existing ones)... and if you get new cabinets, you may as well replace that old Corian with some BADASS Silestone Quartz, right? Which means, you better go ahead and replace that 45" cooktop with a 36" one so that you don't have to deal with the dilemma of finding one to fit when that one breaks... and hell, if you're doing the cooktop, you may as well get a new sink because after all, who wants a grimy old sink next to a shiny new cooktop?
And then there's doorknobs, hinges, ceiling fans, recessed lights, tile, tile, and MORE tile.
Here's a peeky at what happened today...
Laundry room and kitchen floors now have grout
Lizzy's bathroom floor is down. I went with el cheapo 12x12 tiles to save $$. I think laying them on the diagonal makes them look cool though!
Onyx stone for the master shower floor, but what's up with that one dark square??? I've already texted my GC to ask for a fix.
Replacement windows... can't have a jam up house with fogged windows, right?
Master closet doors... framed and waiting.
Closet by Home Depot, Martha Stewart. Yeah, I've got a shoe problem.
The decision process seems endless... and it's SO much fun! I love having this blank slate to make into my dream home. And of course the best part about it all is that it's the home my dad built, the one in which my parents planned to spend the rest of their lives together. Goodness knows life certainly threw them some curve balls, but knowing that I will live in, and love this home forever makes this process so special.
Tomorrow's agenda includes:
~Cabinet installation
~Final lighting decisions
~More grout
Pics to come!